KarunaNews Story

Hatikhuli-Ronghang village has been writing a new chapter in the history of human-wildlife conflict, setting an example for the whole Indian nation. Once notorious for conflicts between villagers and elephant herds, the village is now celebrated as a place where wild elephants roam freely through farmlands and people live side by side with them. In 2018, environmentalist Pradip Kumar Bhuyan and local conservationist Binod Dulu Bora co-founded Hati Bondhu, literally “Friends of Elephants,” and on hundreds of acres near Hatikhuli and surrounding villages, local people began planting elephant-friendly foods. In the past eight years, this area has not recorded any casualties from human-elephant conflict, and farmers who previously abandoned their fields due to elephant incursions are now reaping abundant harvests without fear.